CEBU (SE): The 51st Eucharistic Congress formally opened in Cebu, The Philippines, on January 24 with an outdoor Mass celebrated by the special envoy from Pope Francis, Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, from Yangon in the Union of Myanmar, at the Plaza Independencia.

In introducing the congress, Cardinal Bo said that holding it in Asia is significant, as the continent is home to a confluence of major religions and a part of the world that has not embraced secularism.

CEBU (UCAN): Organisers of the International Eucharistic Congress scheduled to begin on January 24 in Cebu, The Philippines, have assured delegates that security will be tight following the terror attacks in Jakarta that killed at least seven people on January 14.

“While we commiserate with the victims of the bombing, the incident provides even more impetus for us and our security agencies to be vigilant,” Bishop Dennis Villarojo, the secretary general of the organising committee, said.

MANILA (Agencies): Pope Francis has decried the Christmas Eve attacks in Southern Philippines by the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters killed (BIFF) in which at least seven farmers and two other civilians were killed.

Pope Francis said he was saddened by the attacks and asked all believers “to reject violence in the name of God”.

MANILA (Agencies): Bishop Ruperto Santos from Balanga, has urged the government to use the blood money raised for overseas Filipino worker, Joselito Zapanta, to help his family which has been left without a breadwinner following his execution in Saudi Arabia on December 29. Zapanta was sentenced to death by the Grand Court in Riyadh in April 2010 for killing his Sudanese landlord.

MANILA (Agencies): The year just passed was a bad one for The Philippines, Archbishop Oscar Cruz said in describing it as a highly disappointing time, primarily because of the harsh socio-economic realities.

CBCP News reported his as saying, “I call on photographers to visit certain areas in North Harbour to see how people are with poverty as it becomes the new normal. Almost all food commodities in the market are imported, if not smuggled.”

MANILA (Agencies): What happens when a priest gets a bit carried away with enthusiasm for the Christmas spirit and sings his Christmas greetings to his congregation as he wanders the church at the end of Mass?

Well, if you are Father Albert San José and you are at the parish of Our Lady of Miraculous Medal in Biñan, Quezon City, you get to apologise and take an enforced holiday for a few weeks.